Managing Network Use of Your Computer

If you've shared folders on your LAN, you might want to know who's using them. You could need to know this information if, for example, someone were editing a file in your shared folder. If you tried to edit the same file, you'd be told by your word processor that the file was "in use by another." But by whom?

Computer Management can help you out. Open the Start menu, right-click My Computer, select Manage, and open the Shared Folders system tool. It displays the shared folders that your computer offers and the number of users attached to them.

You can add new shared folders using the Shares tool with a right-click.

You can also view the current users (sessions) and the files they have in use with the Sessions and Open Files views. This will let you know whom to ask to close a file, or, in an emergency, you can disconnect a user or close an open file with the Delete key. (This is a drastic measure and is sure to mess up the remote user, so use it only when absolutely necessary.)